A strong ride over the 6.6km-long prologue course in Valence saw the Luxembourger finish in seventh place.
Making his first Critérium du Dauphiné appearance in four years, Bob Jungels concluded the short individual time trial as the highest-ranked Quick-Step Floors rider, after stopping the clock in 7:32, a result that saw him slot into seventh place, just a handful of seconds behind winner Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky), but ahead of several others general classification contenders.
The flat parcours was suited to specialists, and Bob – who raced for the first time since capping off an excellent first part of the season with a remarkable victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège – averaged 53.56 km/h, enough for him to take a second-career top 10 at the French race after the one in 2014, which came also on the opening day.
Besides Jungels, Quick-Step Floors had two more riders in the upper echelon of the overall standings, Niki Terpstra (13th) and Julian Alaphilippe (17th). The race will continue on Monday with a 179km stage between Valence and Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert; the course includes seven short classified climbs, but there's a big chance that everything comes down to a bunch sprint.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
